I acquired Sony's 300 f2.8 and use it with the A1 or A7rV. It works remarkably well, with one exception: stabilization. The problem arises mainly with the TC2.0 when I take hand-held photos of perched birds at shutter speeds of around 1/500. On many photos, I notice inaccuracy due to motion blur.
1) With Sony A7RVs, mechanical shutter release: very difficult to get a perfectly sharp handheld image
2) With Sony A7RVs, electronic shutter release: this is pretty good.
3) With Sony A1 (firmware 2.01): not so good.
4) By comparison: Sony A1 + Sony 600mm f4: very good.
jannw wrote:
I acquired Sony's 300 f2.8 and use it with the A1 or A7rV. It works remarkably well, with one exception: stabilization. The problem arises mainly with the TC2.0 when I take hand-held photos of perched birds at shutter speeds of around 1/500. On many photos, I notice inaccuracy due to motion blur.
1) With Sony A7RVs, mechanical shutter release: very difficult to get a perfectly sharp handheld image
2) With Sony A7RVs, electronic shutter release: this is pretty good.
3) With Sony A1 (firmware 2.01): not so good.
4) By comparison: Sony A1 + Sony 600mm f4: very good.
Have someone similiar experience ?
Is #1 with first curtain electronic shutter enabled in menu?
Tony Ross wrote:
Getting 600mm at half the weight of the 600mm (for a loss of one stop), and a big gain in manoeuvrability - I’ll take that! It’s also half a kg lighter than the 200-600, a third of a stop faster, and easier to keep on target.
I'm stuck with 600 F4 and my arms are tired, I really want to go to Sigma 500 F.6, but 300 with 2x TC seems like a bad compromise IMO go big or go home but i want to go home.
gooby wrote:
What's the conclusion after all these months.. significantly superior to the 200-600 at 600mm?
In my case, yes. The 300 w/ 2x TC is clearly better at 600mm than my 200-600. The zoom is no slouch, by any means, but this new prime is simply outstanding.
I am heading up north soon for a week of photographing loons from a kayak. The focal range is typically 300-600mm. I am leaving the 2-6 at home in favor of my 300 2.8 plus tcs. I have shot about 30,000 frames of loons from kayak this month (with a1) and comparing them to last year's images shot with a1 and 2-6 are easy to differentiate. I'm not talking about corner performance. I'm talking about dead nuts center and it's not just micro-contrast or 100% pixel peeping. The 300 with tcs is clearly sharper than the 2-6. It is also lighter, focuses much faster and more accurately. The only advantage to the 2-6 as far as I am concerned is the ability to zoom. I would say that the 300 plus 2x does have busier bokeh than the 600f4 when cornstalks or cattails are in the near background. The bokeh is no worse than the 2-6 in this regard (probably slightly better than 2-6) but the 600 is better when busy backgrounds are close. If the backgrounds are further away, the 300 plus tc produces dreamy backgrounds on par with the 600.
I'm not bringing the 2-6 on this trip for the first time in years. Additionally, I am bringing the 600f4 with me on this trip, but more-so for mammal opportunities out of the kayak. My days of juggling the 600 and 2-6 in the kayak are very likely over. I honestly haven't had an occasion to use the 2-6 since getting the 300. The 300 IQ with tcs is just that good, and it's so much lighter and smaller.
Just got back and will give an update of this loony trip....
Got up to the lake I have spent weeks on where you can just about touch the loons from the kayak.
Well........
The very first morning I could not get close to mom and her little one. If I got within 150', she rushed me and splashed water. Not wanting to stress her, I kept my distance. A distance beyond being able to fill 60% of the frame with the 300 + 2x. At about 9am (when the light got harsh) I left her and spoke to a man I know that lives on the lake. Seems the male loon hadn't been around for a couple of weeks and the female had become extremely protective of her loonlet. The consensus on the lake was that the male may have flown off to another lake and lost a territorial battle. Prior to him leaving the female would let kayaks within 10' no problem. For those of you that kayak for loons, you know this is normal. For those of you that don't and might feel getting within 100' of wildlife is harassment, keep in mind that many times the loons will approach the kayak on their own - often getting closer than MFD.
That afternoon I unzipped the 600 f4 from its slumber (hasn't seen much use since I got the 300) and off I went. With the 1.4 tc strapped on, I was able to get the look I wanted.
After about 4 days of me wearing the same colored shirt, hat and orange kayak, she warmed up and I was close enough to take off the 1.4. By day 5, I was within 20' and could have changed to the naked 300, but chose to stay about 50' away to keep using the 600 and getting the nice bokeh. Maybe I felt a little sorry for the 600 and kept using it? Honestly, by day 4 my arms quit burning and the only issue with the 600 was its physical length. I have kayaks with pedals, so I rest the 600 on my right shoulder and keep the left hand on my rudder control. Feet do the work. 3 hours in the morning, 3 at night.
It felt good using the 600 handheld again, although by day 8 I was ready to switch back to the 300. I didn't. It poured so heavily on day 8 that I stayed in, having really killed it the night before.
The moral of the story? When traveling by vehicle I recommend bringing everything you think you might use or have used in the past at a familiar location. I did bring the 2-6. It never left the bag. That is truly becoming a forgotten lens for me since I have the 70-200gm ii, 300 & 600gm and both tcs.
Other tidbits - One should always give wildlife an exit route when approaching. For loons, I have found it best to be parallel to them versus in front of or behind on the initial approach. Once again, for loons I consistently wear the same colored shirt (have several of the same light blue long sleeved Cabela's button ups) and the same hat. I have 2 pedal yaks and always use the orange one. Are these colors important? More than likely not. However, I think the repetition is. Within a few days mama loon knew I was not a threat and paid me no mind. On mornings my wife went out, the loon would not come near her in the blue kayak. I'm sure much of it is human mannerism they latch on to, and mostly familiarity. However, I like to have the same look everyday so they know its me and they have nothing to fear.
Could I have changed back to the 300gm on the last couple of days? yes. Would the results have been different? No, since I was often shooting at f8 for DOF. I guess I felt like I was going old-school with the 600 and that was ok.
Now I'm home and will be ship-shape after a quick trip to the chiro.
ps09 wrote:
Just got back and will give an update of this loony trip....
Got up to the lake I have spent weeks on where you can just about touch the loons from the kayak.
Well........
The very first morning I could not get close to mom and her little one. If I got within 150', she rushed me and splashed water. Not wanting to stress her, I kept my distance. A distance beyond being able to fill 60% of the frame with the 300 + 2x. At about 9am (when the light got harsh) I left her and spoke to a man I know that lives on the lake. Seems the male loon hadn't been around for a couple of weeks and the female had become extremely protective of her loonlet. The consensus on the lake was that the male may have flown off to another lake and lost a territorial battle. Prior to him leaving the female would let kayaks within 10' no problem. For those of you that kayak for loons, you know this is normal. For those of you that don't and might feel getting within 100' of wildlife is harassment, keep in mind that many times the loons will approach the kayak on their own - often getting closer than MFD.
That afternoon I unzipped the 600 f4 from its slumber (hasn't seen much use since I got the 300) and off I went. With the 1.4 tc strapped on, I was able to get the look I wanted.
After about 4 days of me wearing the same colored shirt, hat and orange kayak, she warmed up and I was close enough to take off the 1.4. By day 5, I was within 20' and could have changed to the naked 300, but chose to stay about 50' away to keep using the 600 and getting the nice bokeh. Maybe I felt a little sorry for the 600 and kept using it? Honestly, by day 4 my arms quit burning and the only issue with the 600 was its physical length. I have kayaks with pedals, so I rest the 600 on my right shoulder and keep the left hand on my rudder control. Feet do the work. 3 hours in the morning, 3 at night.
It felt good using the 600 handheld again, although by day 8 I was ready to switch back to the 300. I didn't. It poured so heavily on day 8 that I stayed in, having really killed it the night before.
The moral of the story? When traveling by vehicle I recommend bringing everything you think you might use or have used in the past at a familiar location. I did bring the 2-6. It never left the bag. That is truly becoming a forgotten lens for me since I have the 70-200gm ii, 300 & 600gm and both tcs.
Other tidbits - One should always give wildlife an exit route when approaching. For loons, I have found it best to be parallel to them versus in front of or behind on the initial approach. Once again, for loons I consistently wear the same colored shirt (have several of the same light blue long sleeved Cabela's button ups) and the same hat. I have 2 pedal yaks and always use the orange one. Are these colors important? More than likely not. However, I think the repetition is. Within a few days mama loon knew I was not a threat and paid me no mind. On mornings my wife went out, the loon would not come near her in the blue kayak. I'm sure much of it is human mannerism they latch on to, and mostly familiarity. However, I like to have the same look everyday so they know its me and they have nothing to fear.
Could I have changed back to the 300gm on the last couple of days? yes. Would the results have been different? No, since I was often shooting at f8 for DOF. I guess I felt like I was going old-school with the 600 and that was ok.
Now I'm home and will be ship-shape after a quick trip to the chiro. ...Show more →
I thought about shooting the 600 in the kayak the other day and then talked myself out of it. I was just feeling bad for it as it hasn't taken a photo since the 300 arrived. But I decided to keep it benched for now and I'm sure it will get called up come the dreary winter when the f/4 will be needed.
Thanks for the loon report. Very helpful. I’m finding that I enjoy the 300 with the 2x when there is plenty of light. Without much light the 600 f4 is still my goto lens.
